Tennessee football was the third Division I school to offer four-star offensive lineman Joshua Sam-Epelle, and it’s starting to pay off. The Vols were included on his list of the top 10 schools he’s focused on going forward.
The 2027 prospect listed UT alongside Miami, South Carolina, Georgia, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech, according to Hayes Fawcett. This comes on the heels of an unofficial visit to see Tennessee in its game against Oklahoma, as well.
Sam-Epelle stands at 6-foot-9, 340 pounds as a junior in high school, according to 247. The site has him ranked as the No. 30 overall recruit, No. 5 offensive tackle and No. 3 player from Georgia in the cycle. He plays for Douglas County in Douglasville.
NEWS: Four-Star OT Joshua Sam-Epelle is down to 10 Schools, he tells me for @rivals
The 6’9 305 OT from Douglasville, GA is one of the Top OTs in the 2027 Class
Where Should He Go? https://t.co/g2qmo0oIoh pic.twitter.com/cv9N8Fvr3V
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) November 10, 2025
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In January, 247 analyst Hale McGranahan of TheBigSpur predicted him to land at South Carolina. However, in late October, Dawgs247 staff writer Benjamin Wolk predicted him to end up at Georgia instead.
The Vols recently landed a near-top-100 recruit in the 2027 class in offensive lineman Princeton Uwaifo. He is Tennessee’s third and highest-ranked commitment to the 2027 class. He sits alongside three-star linebacker JP Peace, who committed back in June, and three-star cornerback Kamauri Whitfield, who committed in mid-October.
Uwaifo’s commitment also sent Tennessee a good bit up the early recruiting rankings, with the Vols moving from No. 21 to No. 15 in 247’s team rankings.
In the 2026 class, Tennessee landed multiple big-time offensive linemen. The top-ranked commit on the line is five-star Gabriel Osenda out of Baylor School in Chattanooga. UT also holds the commitments of four-star Kamari Blair and three-star Edward Baker.
